NEW ON THE BIG SCREEN / WONDER WOMAN
FANTASY ACTION. With GAL GADOT and CHRIS PINE. Director: PATTY JENKINS. 10-12PG V. In cinemas now. The world’s top female superhero finally gets her own live-action movie 76 years after she first appeared in print. Although she’d already appeared in Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice (2016), this film reveals the Amazon princess’ origin story. After growing up on an isolated island – inhabited by warrior women created to protect the world against Ares, god of war – Diana (Gadot) rescues Allied spy Steve Trevor (Pine) when his plane crashes there in 1918. When Steve reveals World War 1 is raging, Diana feels it’s her duty to help end the conflict.
Movie executives under the mistaken impression that Supergirl (1984) and Catwoman (2004) flopped not because they were bad but because they were female-led superhero films, were reluctant to finance another one – but thankfully they did, because it seems Wonder Woman is the one DC Comics fans have been waiting for.
So far the film has taken $228 million (R2,8 billion) at the global box office and most critics are raving about it. On the reviews aggregator site Rottentomatoes.org the movie has received an impressive 93 percent based on 261 reviews and the site’s critical consensus is: “Thrilling, earnest and buoyed by Gadot’s charismatic performance, Wonder Woman succeeds in spectacular fashion.”
The Independent awards the film four stars and says it “feels far fresher than most recent superhero movies”. Rolling Stone gives it three and a half out of four stars, writing, “The star is unstoppable and spectacular to see in motion.” The Guardian describes it as “a gloriously badass breath of fresh air that reinvigorates the superhero genre with a shock wave of fun”. – COMPILED BY SANDRA VISSER SOURCES: ROTTENTOMATOES.COM, INDEPENDENT.CO.UK, ROLLINGSTONE.COM, THEGUARDIAN.COM